User blog:Sir Ralph Wedgewood II/“2012 Trackmaster Edward (new design) Unboxing review”
DISCLAIMER: All views and opinions in this video and written review are my own and I do not intend to demean or defame Fisher Price, Mattel and Trackmaster Brands, this review merely contains my journalistic opinion as a consumer of this and similar products. I will highlight the good points and the bad points and try to be as factual and unbiased as possible while still presenting my personal opinion of this product. Hey Guys I did order a new Edward from eBay and I was expecting a new one that runs on an AA battery. I have already gotten TM 2012 James, Diesel and Henry and I wanted to get all of the 2012 CGI faced engines while it is very interesting to see the changes they have made first hand this redesign is something I wanted for my collection after having seen videos of it online but there is potential.... This engine is very "lightweight" compared to other Trackmaster and TOMY engines; I initially didn't realize it was an engine in the box from the courier. I pulled it apart initially to have a good close look at how the front set of wheels was. I have been able to push the wheels down by using some grease, oil and some dye applied on it. It is quite hard to do but once it is applied I used a hammer to carefully bash the tabs and it popped down and the tabs hardly broke! To be safe I used some hot glue to make sure the tabs are fine and won’t break. I felt adjusting the front wheels to be level was a huge visual improvement and make me want to use this engine on my railway. Upon assembling it so I could run it I was shocked to find that the drive unit would not start no matter which battery I tried and my usual technique of giving it a small tap to free it up would not start it up. I stripped the drive unit out again and removed its casing, this revealed a metal tab for + and a soldered wire for - and it all appeared to be correct, I moved the metal tabs on the power switch close to the + contact tab and reassembled it hoping for the best, I gave it a shake and a tap and it moved (a little), then turned it off and on again and gave it another tap and it burst to life unwillingly. Having the drive unit running felt good but why wasn't it running out of the packet? This is not like the usual Fisher Price high quality I have come to expect; maybe you need to have a good look at quality control and design. I bought this quite early on eBay so it must be quite faulty for fresh early releases so I guess I can’t complain about that. It runs smoothly and is pretty quiet for this type of drive unit, it negotiates all type of track with no problems which I would expect as a 4 wheeled engine, I have other engines from every available brand with the same type of drive unit that are very loud and "grind" sounding, It is also quieter than my Plarail Edward and faster than the one ucwepn got. This Edward does roll smoothly or freely though compared to most other engines I have and this does increase its speed somewhat. I saw on ucwepn’s video that it was not a free roller and has some resistance. Lucky I got a smooth runner and fast too. I love the beautifully replicated tender with a footplate for a crew. The detailing to me is very good and that’s me being kind. The red stripes and silver handrail on the tender are present. That lovely looking CGI face and a matt finished cab roof making it look quite modern. The tender stickers were both fitted crooked but it was not too obvious. I fixed the stickers using some fox transfer numerals and lining. I won’t give a deduction in the score for that. The top of the frame is red instead of white but it looks good enough as it is surprisingly. I would imagine it looked a little less detailed with the white running plate so I accept that. Another thing is that the whistle is moulded onto the boiler but remains unpainted but I guess its okay The wheels are annoying but. I understand that these engines are that expensive to produce that they needed to delete two sets of wheels to make this engine profitable. I accept the middle wheels as that ma is a normal thing for Mattel now a day. But they could have at least made front wheels that touch the rails (wheels that contact the track and easily lift out of the way for an obstruction). So what is the key here? This is due that it has trouble on some sections of track with 8 wheels on the engine. The only key here is that it would have at least deleted the middle wheels and not the front. But aye digress that it’s alright for a reason. I think ucwepn should understand that. Plarail Edward despite having a special charm, he would get stuck quite often lately when I run him. It is also overall too slow in its speed ( I’m thinking of converting Plarail Edward to 3 Volts and Trackmaster Edward to 4.5 Volts to be fast). I give this 2012 Trackmaster Edward redesign an overall score of 9/10, Hooray! You had a hit from me Trackmaster but the front wheels is still a miss in my opinion, there is so much more you could have done and they are basic things too. I have nothing against Fisher Price and Trackmaster as they have made some amazing products, just not the expectant this time... In the end the only complaint I have is that the front wheels not be leveled on the rails. So, what to do? Well, I will be finding out if there is a supplier of another Trackmaster Edward because I want a second one in which I will fix his wheels by using a rotary tool similar to a dermal to cut them off and I will glue them back on. I will convert it to 4.5 Volts and I will fix the stickers and shorten his coupling by using a spare piston as a drawbar but still retaining the hook and I will be changing the model’s running plate from red to white (The one you just saw on this review will not be converted to 4.5 volts or have white running plate it will remain as is. Ah well, have to do it once more now with another 2012 Edward! Until next time, thanks for reading. Category:Blog posts